Behind the Scenes: CNN’s Control Room

The wall features 30 screens with the potential for 400 images, which on a typical day include live feeds from the White House, the Capitol, and locations throughout the world.

There’s an adjacent audio booth and graphics station. Just down the hall, to go with the new control room, a 2,200-square-foot studio has been added.

Come November 6, this room will be CNN central for the cable channel’s election-night reporting—and a few months later for its inauguration coverage. For the first time, the Atlanta-based channel will be running its election-day programming out of its DC headquarters near Union Station. The space, once the studio for Larry King Live, features a new 1,250-square-foot, multimillion-dollar state-of-the-art control room for the score of producers and directors involved in putting together a live show. It’s normally the control room for The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer and for the channel’s Sunday-morning coverage.